Faculty and staff at Jackson State Community College learned Thursday when to run, when to hide and when to fight should they be faced with an active gunman.

"If you come away with nothing else, I want you to come away with the idea that you need to have the will to survive," said the FBI agent who conducted the training. "And you need to do everything in your power to make sure yourself and everyone you're with, if this ever were to occur, survives the situation."

The agents present asked that their identities not be disclosed.

The training was held as part of in-service for faculty and staff prior to the start of classes Monday. A full drill will be held at the end of August.

The agent said people need to learn from the history of active gunman situations, which are unpredictable and evolve quickly. The agent went through a list of shootings that occurred in schools, theaters and other locations, up to the July shootings at military centers in Chattanooga and a movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana.

He said most of these shootings last an average of 12 minutes, with 37 percent lasting less than five minutes.

Darron Billings, director of safety and security at JSCC, said the training would be valuable for any business or school, particularly since shootings can happen "anywhere at any time."

"Jackson State just wanted to be more proactive than reactive," Billings said. "If we can be proactive enough to allow our people here to know what they're dealing with, what to look for, then that way we can prevent a lot of things."

The agent said gunmen look for easy targets, and running should be the first choice if it is possible to leave the building.

The agent described the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School, telling how instead of using exits from the library many students hid under tables, becoming easy targets.

"We need to learn from that," he said. "Your number one option: Get away, get out, move away from the shooter."

If police enter the building, leave the direction they came in, or head away from the sound of gunshots, he said.

When running is not possible, the second option should be hiding. Doors to classrooms should be kept locked on a regular basis, he said. If a door cannot be locked, doors that swing inward can be barricaded. If the door opens outward, people can use a belt or laptop cord to tie the door handle to a desk. People should dim the lights and silence cell phones, he said.

Fighting is a last resort, the agent said. Then, people should improvise weapons, such as using a fire extinguisher to hit the gunman.

John Koons, who works in the biology department, said ideas about securing rooms without locks were valuable takeaways.

"It's an unfortunate but necessary thing," Koons said. "There were some good things learned from that."

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